Document Signing During Covid-19 Crisis

As of this writing we are in the midst of a pandemic the
likes of which none of us living today has ever experienced. Historians tell us that the Spanish Flu epidemic
from 1918 to 1919 comes the closest. Government
shutdown of nonessential businesses has caused widespread disruptions and affected
people and businesses in different and very personal ways.

Given the nature of our practice, we are receiving calls
from concerned clients and family members.
Some have loved ones in facilities but can’t visit them and are concerned
about the spread of the virus there.
Others are prioritizing long term care and estate planning that they put
off as they see the randomness of this all.
There have been numerous reports of one person in a household
contracting the virus while others remain unaffected.

As I always explain to clients and prospects, the basic
tools that we use to help clients begin with legal documents – a power of
attorney, health care directive, will and often trusts. The execution (signing) of these documents
must conform to certain legal requirements.
Most often they must be signed in the presence of two witnesses and a
notary public who must sign an acknowledgement and affix his/her notary stamp
or seal. (The health care directive can
be signed before two witnesses or a notary public.)

For the overwhelming majority of our clients the signings
occur in our office. On occasion we visit
clients at home or in the facilities where they reside if they cannot come to
us. When Governor Murphy signed an
executive order directing citizens to stay home and President Trump directed citizens
to practice social distancing, we could not conduct these signings in the
normal way. As a result, we temporarily
postponed signing appointments that had been scheduled already.

That was a must for the safety of our clients and employees
and in compliance with the law. But for how
much longer? As I write this President
Trump has extended the social distancing requirement for another 30 days until
April 30 and Governor Murphy’s order is open ended. Medical experts believe we have not reached
the peak of the pandemic yet and this could take us through the summer and
beyond.

We do know, unfortunately, that the spread of Covid-19 does
not mean that the need for long term care stops. Our clients and their families still have to
solve the problem of getting care for loved ones and paying for it. Which leads me back to the issue of document
signing. We do not know how long it will
take to get back to “business as usual” so we must look for an alternative so
we can help clients navigate the long term care process.

Governor Cuomo has temporarily modified New York’s law to
permit signing of legal documents to be done via video conferencing. A bill has been proposed in New Jersey to
allow video conferencing, but it has not yet been passed. In its current form the new law would not be
effective until 90 days from its passage which doesn’t solve the problem
either.
We are currently
looking at other alternatives. One
possibility is “drive by signings” conducted in our parking lot. We would be able to practice social
distancing that way, however, we are still evaluating the other potential methods
of disease transmission (ie. pen, paper etc.) as medical experts learn more
about the virus and education us all.